The majority of the people surveyed thought that it was "good history about the Jews." Some had been told that "There are many errors in the Bible, and you can’t be certain about its accuracy." Some felt it was "God’s Word." Very few people read the Bible on a regular basis to see what God had to say to them! Someone could ask the question, "What difference does it make what I think about the Bible if I am a good person following the Golden Rule?"

     Well, friends, what you believe about the Bible makes a world of difference in what you believe about God! There is only one place where you can get a clear picture of God-and that is in the Bible. In fact, that is the reason the Bible was given to us. It tells us about a God whom we have not seen with our own eyes and who can only be known by reading the messages He has sent by His prophets and His Son to reveal Himself to us.

     So let’s take a look at this great Book--the Bible also called God’s Word--and see if we can find evidence as to whether it is true or not-whether it can be trusted or not. The Bible is really not just one book, but a whole library of books inside one cover-for you see, the Bible contains 66 books written at different times by different authors over a period of 1,600 years. There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.

     Forty-five different men wrote these books, yet we find among them an amazing agreement that can only be explained by the fact that they had a common source. This total agreement resulted even though most of the writers of these books never saw each other. They were from various cultures and occupations. Some were fishermen, some shepherds, some kings, some government leaders, some farmers, some preachers, some statesmen, and a physician-men from all walks of life.

     Yet there is perfect unity and harmony between the books they wrote. A miracle, indeed! This agreement can only be explained by acknowledging that God gave this Book to us so that He might be able to communicate His will to us. Peter explains it this way:

"For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy spirit." 2 Peter 1:21

     The apostle Paul wrote:

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God
may be complete, thoroughly equipped for very good work." 2 Timothy 3:16, 17

     The reason God chose this method of communication--speaking to us in written form--is that the channel between Himself and man had been cut off by sin! When God and man walked and talked together in Eden, there was no need to have a prophet write down what God wanted man to know. When Adam sinned, he hid from God, for he was fearful and guilty about what he had done. When God asked Adam where he was, Adam replied,

"I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid ... and I hid myself."
Genesis 3:10

     No longer could God continue to have face-to-face conversations with His creatures. God chose to reveal what He wanted them to know through His prophets and later, through His Son.

"Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secrets to
His servants the prophets." Amos 3:7

     Starting with Moses in the Midian desert, God gave to Moses the Book of Job and the first five books of the Old Testament, which together are called the "Law." It is interesting to note that alphabetic writing was invented by a Canaanite workman who was working in the mines near Mt. Sinai. Just when Israel had grown to a mighty nation of several million people and God needed to be able to communicate His will in written form, alphabetic writing was invented.

     The people would now be able to read the Ten Commandments that God wrote with His own fingers-and the Book of the Law that Moses wrote for God. But the question remains: Is the Bible still accurate and dependable, just as God gave it? Until the year 1947, the earliest manuscripts we had of the Old Testament were copies from around A.D. 900.

     Then came the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in a cave overlooking the Dead Sea. The Isaiah scroll found there went back all the way to 125 B.C. It had been copied over a thousand years before the oldest manuscript that had been found up to that time. It contained the entire Book of Isaiah. Sir Frederic Kenyon, one of the most qualified experts and President of the British School of Archaeology, reported that,

"In one chapter of 166 words there is only one word (three letters) in question after a thousand years of transmission, and this word does not significantly change the meaning of the message!"
                                                                               Evidence Demands A Verdict p.58

     Sir Frederic Kenyon, put it this way: "The Christian can take the whole Bible in his hand and say without fear or hesitation that he holds in his hands the true Word of God, handed down without essential loss from generation to generation throughout the centuries." Ibid. Sir Kenyon made this statement after spending a lifetime examining the evidence of how the Bible was transmitted and what effect that transmission had on the message of the Book.

     The Bible critics a little over a century ago found many reasons to raise doubt about the Bible, but many of these criticisms have been silenced by the spade of the archaeologist. Until the nineteenth century, little was known about the ancient past except for what the Bible had to say about it. Ancient history seemed locked forever behind the strange picture writings—the hieroglyphics—of Egypt. For no one in Egypt, nor anyone in the whole world, could decipher them.

     Then in 1798, Napoleon led a military expedition into Egypt. With his 38,000 soldiers, Napoleon took a hundred artists, language experts, and scientists to help him better understand the history of that intriguing land. Everywhere, they saw relics of the past—unreadable inscriptions, decorated monuments and temple walls. Napoleon and his scholars wondered what secret messages those picture writings contained.

     A year later, in 1799, the most significant of all archaeological discoveries up to that time occurred. One of Napoleon’s soldiers unearthed a black stone—122 centimeters long and 76 centimeters wide (four feet by two and a half feet)—that would unlock the mystery of the picture writing and reveal secrets hidden for centuries.  Known as the Rosetta Stone, it is now housed in the British Museum.

     This rock slab, uncovered near the delta town of Rosetta, bore an ancient decree in three different scripts: hieroglyphic (picture writing), demotic Egyptian, and Greek. Of course, scholars could easily translate the Greek text, but the hieroglyphics were something else. However, twenty years later, in 1822, a brilliant young Frenchman by the name of Jean Francois Champollion startled the world by deciphering the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone.

     Thus the vast treasures of Egypt’s ancient past were opened to the scholars of the world. But most important, the long-forgotten history of Egypt now stepped forward to confirm the pages of Scripture. The inscribed stones cried out to the whole world that what the Bible had said was true! The more archaeologists continue to dig, the more evidence they find to confirm Bible history with historical records of past civilizations.

     Recent discoveries at Tell Marduk, the ancient city of Ebla in Syria—once a rich and sophisticated society of almost 300,000 people—have electrified the world of archaeology. Not since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls have so many scholars in this field of study been so excited about a find! But it is even more exciting to the students of the Bible.

     In a scribal school adjoining the city’s palace, 14,000 inscribed clay tablets and fragments were found, dating back at least to 2300 B.C.  The world’s oldest discovered government archive contained the official records of the kingdom of Ebla for more than a century. Some historians had questioned whether the Hebrews could have developed the art of alphabetic writing by the time of Moses.

     Until the nineteenth century, no historical evidence existed to verify that. However, the Ebla tablets and other finds date back far beyond the lifetime of Moses. In fact, archaeologists have discovered whole libraries that date back centuries before Moses. The Ebla tablets refer to a creation story and a flood story.

     Also mentioned are names and places, which coincide with biblical ones: Esau, Abraham, Israel, Sinai, even Jerusalem. But the real bombshell is the mention of the two "sin cities"—Sodom and Gomorrah. Before the discovery of these tablets, no historical reference to these cities had been known except in the Bible. Therefore, they were considered to be just mythical places.

     However, many books will have to be rewritten, for these findings do indeed confirm many geographical names of that day. Some authors will have to admit that Genesis is more than just ancient shepherd songs and legends. The discoveries at Ebla and elsewhere have confirmed the authenticity of the Bible! David said,

"Thy word is true from the beginning..." Psalm 119:160

     And Isaiah agrees:

"For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed
the earth and made it ...I, the LORD, speak righteousness,
I declare things that are right." Isaiah 45:18, 19

     They say that dead men don’t tell tales. But they do! Tales more fascinating than fiction. Civilizations long dead are speaking from their dusty grave, confirming the accuracy and reliability of God’s Word. Until the nineteenth century, some scholars believed that Queen Semiramis built Babylon. Yet in the Bible, Daniel quoted King Nebuchadnezzar as saying,

"...Is not this great Babylon that I have built...?" Daniel 4:30

     Who was right? In 1899, Robert Koldewey began excavating the old ruins of Babylon, unearthing tens of thousands of kiln-baked bricks, all bearing the stamp of King Nebuchadnezzar, all taken from the walls and temples of the city! A cuneiform tablet, recounting Nebuchadnezzar’s achievements, was also found by the archaeologists of Babylon. On it, the king says, "The fortifications of Esagila and Babylon I strengthened and established the name of my reign forever." The Bible states that proud Nebuchadnezzar

"spoke, saying, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling
by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty...?’" Daniel 4:30

     The East India House inscription, now in London, devotes six columns of Babylonian writing to a description of the huge building projects of Nebuchadnezzar. The spade again stood by the Word of God.   Another mystery of secular history was the absence of Belshazzar as a ruler of Babylon. The Bible named Belshazzar as the ruler of Babylon who witnessed the handwriting on the wall of the banquet hall. Was he only the invention of Daniel’s fertile mind? Not at all! Nabonidus, successor of the great Nebuchadnezzar, had entrusted the kingship to his son Belshazzar, while he was away at Tema in Arabia for ten years. Tablets from archaeologists’ finds state that the kingdom was indeed entrusted to Belshazzar, the crown prince. Here is what was written:

"And as to Belshazzar the exalted son, the offspring of my body, do thou place the adoration of the great deity in his heart; may he not give way to sin; may he be satisfied with life’s abundance; and may reverence for the great divinity dwell in the heart of Belshazzar, my firstborn favorite son." -God Speaks to Modern Man, p.154

Isn’t it interesting that in the closing chapter of Daniel, we read:

"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." Daniel 12:4

    Knowledge would be increased not only in the scientific world. Knowledge would also increase as to the accuracy of God’s Word. Bricks and cylinders, tablets and manuscripts—dug up by archaeologists in places where Bible characters walked in the ancient past—are proving that what the Bible says is true! However, another compelling evidence that the Bible is God’s inspired Word is it ability to accurately foretell the future.

"... I am God and there is none like Me ... declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done ..." Isaiah 46:9, 10

     Yes, as God pulls back the curtain of time, giving us a glimpse of the future, He demonstrates to the world that the Bible is not just a book. It is His Book. Before Babylon reached the height of its power and glory, God’s Book foretold its fall:

"And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." Isaiah 13:19

     The Bible even foretold the power that would overthrow this mighty kingdom.

"...The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it..." Jeremiah 51:11

     The name of the man who would lead the armies against Babylon was prophesied 150 years before his birth, as was the very way he would do it.

"Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus ... I will ... open before him the two leaved gates..." Isaiah 45:1

     Were the prophecies of the Bible fulfilled? To the very letter! In the Persian Hall of the British Museum stands the Cyrus cylinder—discovered in the ruins of Babylon. On this clay cylinder, Cyrus tells of his conquest! The details are accurate! The Bible not only foretold Babylon’s destruction, it further stated:

"Babylon shall become heaps ..." Jeremiah 51:37

"It shall never be inhabited ... but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there ...
and owls shall dwell there ..." Isaiah 13:20, 21

     Only God could foresee the future and predict so accurately the fate of the mighty Babylon. The explorer Austen H. Layard describes the site of ancient Babylon:

"Shapeless heaps of rubbish cover for many an acre the face of the land ... a naked and hideous waste. Owls start from the scanty thickets, and the foul jackal skulks through the furrows."
                          —Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, p. 413

     Of Babylon’s former glory, nothing remains but its name on a signpost at the roadside. The vast heaps scattered over the ancient Babylonian ruins are certain evidence to the inspiration and integrity of the Bible. We can but agree with the prophet of old:

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8

     And friend, if God had the wisdom and ability to precisely foretell centuries in advance the future of ancient kingdoms past, can we doubt for a moment His ability and wisdom to predict accurately what our own future holds for us? Hardly! In fact, Bible prophecy gives us the privilege of pulling up the blinds, looking into the future through God’s eyes, and catching a glimpse of His solution to the problems threatening man’s survival on Planet Earth.

     The Bible is more than just reliable history, more than accurate scientific facts, more than prophecies fulfilled. If it were not, it would not matter what men did with it. The theme of the Book, the heart of it all, is the account of what happened on a rugged hill outside of Jerusalem more than nineteen centuries ago. And it makes a difference what we believe about that! 

     Either the Son of the Living God died on that cross—or He did not. Either He was who the Bible says He was—or He was not! Was Calvary fantasy—or fact? It makes a difference, and we need to know! Perhaps the greatest evidence that the Bible is what it claims to be is the power in the Book to change lives. That power is wrapped up in one person—Jesus Christ! Jesus said,

"Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life;
and they are they which testify of Me." John 5:39

     Jesus was speaking of the Old Testament, for the New Testament had not yet been written! And as you turn the pages of the Old Testament, you will discover that they prophesy of a coming Messiah and tell of His mission of love and salvation. Jesus told His disciples:

"...These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." Luke 24:44

     The Old Testament prophesied of Christ, and the New Testament is His life story. So you see, the entire Bible is a revelation of Jesus Christ, who came to demonstrate to a planet in rebellion what His Father was really like. That is why the Bible is called the "Living Word of God." It carries an amazing power with it wherever it goes—a power that changes lives, transforms human character, gives strength to the weak, courage to the depressed, and hope to the dying.

     All through history, the power of the Bible to change people has been proven over and over. Angry people have been changed into peaceful people through the power of the Bible. Lustful, immoral people have become pure and clean. Drunkards have been delivered from their drinking, thieves from their stealing, cheaters from their cheating. You don’t have to look far today to find hardened murderers in prison who have been changed into rejoicing Christians through the power of the Bible.

     You don’t have to look far to find marriages that were headed straight for divorce, that have been saved and filled with new love through the power of the Bible. No one can read the Bible faithfully, every day, without God’s Book changing him or her. And if you spend time each day in the Bible, my friend, it will change you too.

     Jesus spent His time changing people—that is the heart of the Christian religion. And it is the heart of the Bible—the secret of its power. Jesus knew what power it was that changed men:

"You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32

     It is truth that sets men free—that changes men! It is the truth that makes a drunkard a sober and loving father. It is truth that frees the drug abuser. With so much deception being practiced in the world today, we ask, "What is truth?" Jesus gave the answer:

"...Thy word is truth." John 17:17

     The Bible, God’s Word, is truth! The power of that Word can change the hearts  of men and women. But God’s Word can change only those willing to be changed—those willing to accept the Man in the Book—Jesus Christ. And millions of lives have been changed as people have studied the Bible. No greater power exists in the world to touch hearts and change lives.

     Many of you have heard of the "Bounty" and the mutiny that made this ship famous. In 1790, Captain Bligh and his crew started out from England to bring a load of breadfruit tree plants to transplant in the West Indies as cheap food for slaves. Because of Bligh’s cruel leadership and mistreatment of his crew, there was a mutiny, and Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutiny, set Bligh and 18 of the crew adrift in a small boat.

     They managed to find their way back to England because of the expert ability of Captain Bligh to navigate. The crew on the Bounty didn’t fare very well, but they ended up on uninhabited Pitcairn Island. They burned the Bounty so they could not be traced. When they had been in Tahiti, Bligh had taken on board a number of women and children, and a few native men. Evidently, life on Pitcairn was a sort of paradise for a time. But it was a flawed paradise.

     No man-made utopia will endure for long while the hearts of men are unchanged. If Fletcher Christian had read his Bible, it would have told him it couldn’t last. For we read:

"Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it ..." Psalm 127:1

     When the men learned how to make liquor, they began to quarrel and kill each other. The mutineers and the Tahitian men began killing each other, including Fletcher Christian. Before long, because of their wicked living, the survivors were reduced to only one man, John Adams, and a number of women and children.

     John Adams remembered that Fletcher Christian had owned a Bible. It was the only book on the Island. He searched until he found it, and began reading it. A change came over his life. He recognized the serious responsibility that he had. He then took upon himself the work of educating the people, using the Bible as his only textbook.

     Here were these children, fathered by the mutineers—some of them Fletcher’s children. These children were now in his hand. Their future would be the future that he, John Adams, created for them. He taught them to read and write, and how to live. The children grew up to be well mannered, orderly, and dedicated Christian youth.

     It was this unusual interest in the Word of God, and the amazing transformation in the entire population of the island that attracted the attention of passing vessels, then of the British government, and finally of the whole world. For such secrets cannot be kept. Today most of the people are Christians, what one Bible can do!

     You see, friend, it makes a difference what we do with the Book. It is more than just a book to carry to church or to display in our homes! It is more than helpful information or useful advice—it is God speaking to our hearts. It is His love letter to His children on Planet Earth. In it is the secret of survival, everlasting happiness, and peace of mind.

     The history of the Bible tells the truth about the past—even the distant past. Its prophecies tell the truth about the future. And friends, it tells the truth about God, too. It tells you and me that God made us, because He wanted us! Then, when we human beings sinned and disobeyed God, He loved us so much that He sent His own Son to die in our place so that we could have a chance to live forever and ever someday in a perfect world.

     The Bible tells us about a God who knows how weak and trapped in sin we are—how controlled we are by our own selfishness. And in the Bible, God shows us how He wants to change us from the inside out to be unselfish and giving and loving people. Do you know, friends, that one of the most important ways of getting to know God is by reading the Bible He has given us?

     And as we learn in the Bible about the kind of God we have—about His great love that led Him to give His own Son to save us—we will come to trust Him. If we read and study the Bible, we’ll come to know God. And when we know Him, we’ll trust Him. And when we trust Him, we’ll accept the salvation He offers us.

     So do you see how important it is to trust the Bible?

     Yes, friend, it’s not just the Book—it’s the Author of the Book—who makes the difference!

     And as we catch a glimpse of that Author, our faith will soar, for to know Him is to love and trust Him.